David Korins and Hyperrealist Artist Robin Eley Will Premiere Private Collection / Closed For Installation This Fall in NYC

Award-winning designer David Korins and renowned hyperrealist artist Robin Eley today announced the fall New York City opening of Private Collection / Closed for Installation, a free immersive experience celebrating iconic works of art that are far from the public's reach.

With the premiere of Private Collection / Closed for Installation, co-producers David Korins and Robin Eley will bring their collaboration to life after four years in the making. Historically significant and distinguished masterpieces have been recreated and veiled with Eley's masterful technique that will be on display in an immersive and fictional space designed by Korins. The experience is created around the context of a fictional museum, the New or Traditional Art Museum (NOTaMUSEUM), where privately held, lost or stolen notable works of art have been gathered for a rare public showing. The New or Traditional Art Museum will feature acclaimed classic paintings and a sculpture successfully recreated by Eley and reimagined with his hyper-realistic technique of creating the illusion that each piece is wrapped in clear plastic film on the surface of the canvas. In reality, the paintings are two-dimensional and the illusion is expertly painted by Eley himself. Eley's entire collection on display is sold-out.

Australian hyperrealist artist Robin Eley has been widely recognized for his diverse body of work and for recreating prominent traditional paintings and presenting them in a new way. Eley's precise replication of the classic masterpieces and applying his contemporary technique of adding plastic wrap is more than just an illusion to trick the viewer's perception of reality. The purposefully veiled art adds intrigue and represents each piece remaining publicly inaccessible and shrouded in mystery. The works of art confined to their packaging and remaining forever out of reach explores what it means to have access to art and its public value.

"Working with David Korins has proven to be that rarest of collaborations where the personalities mesh, the skills don't overlap and the creative vision is fully aligned," said artist and Co-Producer Robin Eley. "From the outset, this exhibition was the opportunity to give my work context. But David, with his myriad talents and mesmerizing intuition, has taken this context and transformed it into an experience-a truly immersive synthesis of art and space, where one elevates the other."

The experience has been designed by renowned creative director David Korins, whose work includes the set designs for the Broadway musicals Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Beetlejuice: The Musical, as well as experiential design for Immersive Van Gogh, The DiscOasis, and Sotheby's. Private Collection / Closed for Installation is designed to give context to the visual effects added onto the art pieces by Eley to bring them to life and extend their reach beyond the canvas. The experience will give visitors early access to tour the fictional museum's soon-to-be-opened gallery, but when patrons arrive they find the space in a mid-renovation state and closed for installation. As guests discover art pieces still in various stages of being unpacked and prepped for hanging, the fictionalized premise and deep sense of irony blurs the line between observer and participant.

"From the moment I first encountered Robin Eley's work, I was awestruck," said Creative Director and Co-Producer David Korins. "Over time, I became inspired to create an event that would highlight his incredible talent and amplify the deeper meaning behind the work. It is an honor to be collaborating with Robin in conceiving a fictional museum where guests can experience his innovative artwork in a new and entertaining way. I hope this exhibition will re-define what's possible by blurring the lines between fine art gallery, immersive experience and pop culture."

The New or Traditional Art Museum will highlight nineteen renowned artworks including Jean-Michel Basquiat's Dustheads, Pablo Picasso's Le Rêve, René Magritte's The Son of Man, Andy Warhol's Turquoise Marilyn, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette, Claude Monet's Meule, Edvard Munch's The Scream, Leonardo Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, Vincent van Gogh's Three Sunflowers, Henri Matisse's Pastoral, Rembrandt's Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait with a Monkey, Edgar Degas's Danseuses dans une salle d'exercice, and Alberto Giacometti's L'Homme au doigt sculpture. The experience will also feature QR codes throughout the gallery allowing visitors to access mini documentary videos describing the history and intrigue surrounding each artwork.

In an industry first, Private Collection / Closed for Installation is collaborating with Matterport to create a deeply immersive digital experience that's accessible and interactive for audiences around the world and will launch alongside the show opening on September 17, 2022 on RobinEley.com. Matterport's collaboration is foundational to Eley and Korins' vision of authentically bringing inaccessible art to a global audience. Matterport is the leading spatial data platform that creates stunningly accurate digital twins - visually immersive, interactive 3D models of buildings and spaces, including some of the world's leading galleries and museums.

The full creative team for Private Collection / Closed for Installation includes David Korins as creative director and co-producer, Robin Eley as artist and co-producer, and David Weiner as lighting designer.

The New or Traditional Art Museum's gift shop will display museum-branded merchandise and an exhibition monograph with an essay by Byron Hawes taking an in-depth look at the collaborative experience.

Private Collection / Closed for Installation's admission is free and offers guests the opportunity to view Eley's sold-out collection in person for a limited time only from September 17, 2022 through September 25, 2022. Reservations and tickets are not required for entry. The experience is open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET at Lume Studios (393 Broadway) in Manhattan. COVID-19 vaccination and masks are not required for entry, but strongly encouraged for all visitors.